Design and implementation of the European-Mediterranean Postgraduate Programme on Organ Donation and Transplantation (EMPODaT) for Middle East/North Africa countries.

This prospective study reports the design and results obtained after the EMPODaT project implementation. This project was funded by the Tempus programme of the European Commission with the objective to implement a common postgraduate programme on organ donation and transplantation (ODT) in six selected universities from Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries (Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco). The consortium, coordinated by the University of Barcelona, included universities from Spain, Germany, Sweden and France.

Confirmation of brain death diagnosis: A study on French practice.

Introduction: In France, brain death diagnosis is regulated by law and mandates the use of confirmatory tests (electroencephalogram or angiography). No data are available on this practice and the possible influence of medical history.

Study Design: National survey using an e-mail questionnaire after phone agreement.

Effect of N-acetylcysteine pretreatment of deceased organ donors on renal allograft function: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Antioxidant donor pretreatment is one of the pharmacologic strategy proposed to prevent renal ischemia-reperfusion injuries and delayed graft function (DGF). The aim of the study was to investigate whether a donor pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduces the incidence of DGF in adult human kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: In this randomized, open-label, monocenter trial, 160 deceased heart-beating donors were allowed to perform 236 renal transplantations from September 2005 to December 2010.

Transcranial Doppler shortens the time between clinical brain death and angiographic confirmation: a randomized trial.

Background: Brain death diagnosis relies on clinical signs, but confirmatory tests are legally mandatory in some countries. In France, transcranial Doppler (TCD) is not recognized as a legal test to confirm brain death. Nevertheless, experts recommend its use to determine the need for a legal confirmatory test.

Quality assessment in intensive care units: proposal for a scoring system in terms of structure and process.

Objective: We present a score for assessing the quality of ICU care in terms of structure and process, based on bibliographic review, expert consultations, field test, analysis, and final consensus, and analyze its initial application in the field.

Design And Setting: This feasibility and observational study was conducted within the framework of a French regional clinical research project (NosoQual); 40 ICUs were visited and assessed between November 2002 and March 2003 according to standardized procedures.

Measurements And Results: The grid consisted of 95 variables.

Malnutrition is an independent factor associated with nosocomial infections.

The aim of the present prospective study was to determine if malnutrition, measured using a simple validated score, is an independent risk factor for nosocomial infections (NI) in non-selected hospital in-patients. Between 29 and 31 May 2001, a survey on the prevalence of NI was conducted on all 1637 in-patients (61 (SD 25) years old) in a French university hospital as part of a national survey. Actual and usual body weights were recorded in all in-patients, and serum albumin levels were measured on all blood samples taken during the week before the study.